Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,059 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Accenture were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $264,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the fourth quarter worth $262,000. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Accenture by 93.7% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 35,163 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $12,339,000 after purchasing an additional 17,008 shares during the period. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Accenture by 71.2% in the fourth quarter. Evolution Advisers Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Accenture Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ACN stock traded down $0.99 on Friday, reaching $308.01. 3,371,848 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,670,314. The stock has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $349.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.94. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $261.68 and a 1-year high of $387.51.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The information technology services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.85 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 28.30% and a net margin of 10.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Accenture’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Insider Activity at Accenture

In related news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Accenture news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.22, for a total value of $1,536,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,606.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.77, for a total transaction of $316,376.27. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,862,494.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,490 shares of company stock worth $10,592,664. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Accenture from $363.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Accenture from $379.00 to $419.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Accenture from $430.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Accenture from $374.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Accenture from $335.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.00.

Accenture Company Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.